《尚书·金縢》“周公居东”再析

“The Duke of Zhou’s Residence in the East”of Jin Teng Is Analyzed Again

汉代以来,史家对《尚书·金縢》中“周公居东”含义的理解,一直有“周公待罪避东”和“周公东征”两种说法并争讼不断。“周公居东”由管蔡流言引发,而流言“公将不利于孺子”本质上针对的是周公在武王死后摄政乃至称王是否合理的问题,这是影响周公“待罪避东”或“东征”的关键。从周初王位继承的实际看,当时嫡长子继承制尚未真正确立,周公在武王死后摄政乃至称王是合理的。周公不会因管蔡流言而避居于东。“周公居东”有两层含义:一是周公为了巩固翦商大业,选择东征讨伐管蔡与武庚叛乱;二是周公面对管蔡流言为稳定周族内部团结、一致对外应对叛乱,以避居的姿态来打消统治阶层内部对自己的摄政疑虑。

Since the Han dynasty,there are two different understandings of“the Duke of Zhou’s residence in the east”in Jin Teng.First one is“the Duke of Zhou emigranted to the east and wait for the punishment”,second one is“the Duke of Zhou’s eastern expedition”.“The Duke of Zhou’s residence in the east”was raised by rumors from Guan and Cai,and the rumors“Duke will be against the Ruzi”essentially aimed at whether it was reasonable for the Duke of Zhou to regency and to be a king after the death of King Wu.This is the key to understand“the Duke of Zhou’s residence in the east”.Judging from the reality of the succession at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty,the lineal primogeniture system had not been established.It is reasonable for the Duke of Zhou to take the helm of state and even become king after the death of Wu King who founded the Zhou dynasty.The Duke of Zhou wouldn’t avoid living in the East because of the rumor of Guan and Cai.“the Duke of Zhou’s residence in the east”has two meanings.First,in order to consolidate Overthrow of the Shang dynasty,the Duke of Zhou chose to go to the east to fight the rebellion of Guan Cai and Wugeng;second,faced with the rumors of Guan Cai,the Duke of Zhou sought to stabilize the internal unity of the Zhou nationality and deal with the rebellion in a unified manner,so as to avoid the doubts about his regency within the ruling class.